Fishing is a popular recreational pastime. One favorite style of fishing involves casting a fishing lure and retrieving the lure to catch fish. The retrieve entices fish to strike the lure. Lures are available in almost an infinite variety of shapes, weights, and buoyancy.
A lure must be cast near fish to be effective. When fishing in open waters, lures can be retrieved without snagging. Many game fish, though, avoid open water and congregate or school close to underwater structure. Such structure may include tree stumps, vegetation, rocks, or other objects. Casting the lure among these objects is often the key to successfully catching fish.
Lures often snag when retrieved through structure. The lure body or a fishhook carried by the lure snags against the structure. The lure can't be retrieved until the snag is cleared. The fishing line often must be cut to continue fishing, and the lure is lost.
Snag-resistant fishing lures have been developed that resist snagging of the lure during the retrieve. Embodiments of snag-resistant fishing lures are disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 6,813,857 incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, which discloses a triangular snag guard. One of the disclosed lures is a jig (a jig includes a lead sinker forming the head or body of the lure, with a hook molded into the head or body). The triangular snag guard is preferably formed from the fishing line is attached to the jig, the snag guard having a first line segment that passes through the jig head and a pair of second line segments defining guard filaments that extend away from opposite sides of the jig to a knot formed in the fishing line.
The jig head can rotate about the first line segment, with the weight of the jig head biasing the fishhook to ride in an upright position during retrieve. The snag guard is taut during the retrieve; the guard filaments extend in front of the jig head and engage obstructions to enable the jig head and hook to move past the obstruction without snagging.
The snag-resistant jig described above has been successful in reducing snagging as compared to jigs without a triangular snag guard. It has been found, however, that despite the weight of the jig head biasing the fishhook to ride upright, that on occasion the fishhook will face downwardly during the retrieve. When the fishhook is not riding upright the risk of snagging is increased, thereby negating to some degree the benefits of the snag guard.
When the jig is being cast, the jig head pulls the snag guard behind it, keeping the snag guard taut. It is theorized that when the jig hits the water after a cast, the snag guard relaxes and can then rotate about the jig head to a point that will cause the fishhook to face downwardly during retrieve.
Thus there is a need for an improved jig that further resists a downward facing fishhook during retrieve but can be used with my triangular snag guard assembly